About us

The Cambridge Centre for Health Leadership & Enterprise brings together the intellectual resources and expertise of Cambridge Judge Business School and the wider University to address the challenge of effective management in health-related organisations and industries.

The Centre engages in research and teaching activities with the aim to improve both academic knowledge and the practice of management in health-related organisations and industries, to achieve a common goal of better health for more people. We draw on business school faculty across management disciplines, from organisational behaviour and operations management to marketing and strategy, and on partners with the specific relevant industry expertise.

Our main areas of focus are:

Health Service Delivery - the effective management of hospitals and local health care systems

Pharma / Biotech - addressing the productivity and business model challenges of the biopharmaceutical industry

Welcome message

The desire to improve health and help the sick is amongst our oldest and noblest motivations and fuels the most admirable individual efforts, exemplified everyday in hospitals and healthcare practices around the world. The same desire draws scientists and entrepreneurs into the industry and fuels a relentless development and deployment of new technology that leads to astonishing advances in healthcare. The Cambridge Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise sits at the crossroads of the desire to do good and the desire to do better. Our focus is on many aspects of management which are crucial to achieving transformational change, whilst our position in Cambridge Judge Business School, at the heart of the University, enables us to link effectively with people working in other disciplines and organisations, united by the common goal of better health for more people.

The health industry faces unparalleled pressures. An aging population and persistent increase in long-term conditions and unhealthy lifestyles lead to unprecedented demands on our health delivery organisations. The economic crisis exacerbates this problem.

The information revolution and advances in genomics offer great opportunities but they also bear daunting threats. How will patients cope with an ever increasing flood of information? How will the role of doctors and nurses, and their relationships with their patients change as more informed patients demand more control of their health? The challenges extend beyond service delivery. The pharmaceutical industry, long-standing motor of medical innovation and safe haven for investors faces unprecedented R&D productivity challenges, posing a deadly threat to its traditional business model.

The Centre's activities focus on the challenges faced by the people and organisations united by a social cause more powerful than mere economic considerations, yet in a context where economic efficiency is important. Leading in health, helping people achieve common goals, is a difficult balancing act in an emotionally laden, politically charged and increasingly complex environment. The Centre's mission to advance health leadership and enterprise, through our teaching and research, is enhanced by our unique access to the knowledge base of a top international business school and the vast intellectual capital of one of the world's leading universities.

Stefan Scholtes

Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise; Dennis Gillings Professor for Health Management, Cambridge Judge Business School

Feryal Erhun

Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise; Reader in Operations and Technology Management, Cambridge Judge Business School